1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a saddle stitcher for folded sheets including a stitching station, at least one folded sheet feeder, an assembly chain, a drive unit, and at least two card gluers along the assembly chain for dispensing personalized printed matter onto the folded sheets on the assembly chain.
2. Description of the Related Art
Saddle stitchers are paper processing machines with which an end product, such as a brochure, is assembled from several folded sheets that are stitched together. Printed folded sheets are disposed in folded sheet feeders so as to be lying or standing on their backs in stacks. Subsequently, the printed folded sheets are separated from each other, opened up and placed on the assembly chain. The folded sheets to be stitched are gathered and lined up on the assembly chain by pushers. The assembly chain transports the assembled folded sheets to the stitching station, where they are stapled together by stitching heads. A trimmer is usually provided to cut off the edge of the stitched product, from which the end product is further transported to a delivery. A conventional saddle stitcher is disclosed in European Patent EP 917 965 B1.
However, the mere assembling of folded sheets into a brochure is often not sufficient to make a printed product commercially attractive. There is a demand for a saddle stitcher that provides an added value to the printed product. This added value arises, for example, from additional processing steps that are performed on the folded sheets during assembly. One way to create added value is to enclose additional elements with the printed product, such as samples of goods like perfume or cream, or advertising cards. It is especially favorable to address the reader personally, either because he is known from having subscribed to the printed product or because it is a mass mailing campaign. The additional personalization can be accomplished, for example, by a glue-on advertising card, which is printed with the name and address by a digital printing device for a particular group of customers and glued at a particular place in the printed product at a saddle stitcher. Such product sample gluers or card gluers are known in the art.